Pros and Cons: License to Kill

Absolutely_Cart

The 16th film in the series ; the 2nd and final film to feature Timothy Dalton as James Bond. Shifting away from the humor of the Moore era, License to Kill was even darker and gorier than its predecessor, The Living Daylights. Although it was a financial success overall, LTK sold the least out of all the other films in the series.

Pros:
[list=*]
[*]Dalton plays Fleming's Bond superbly, dark and primal[/*]
[*]Bond has some serious guts handling all that cash![/*]
[*]Bond plays the villains all against each other, smartly[/*]
[*]Franz Sanchez is intense, terrifying, and believable[/*]
[*]Sanchez saying "You can have a kiss too" to the iguana[/*]
[*]Q gets his biggest role in the series. Yay!![/*]
[*]Gadgets (explosive toothpaste, laser camera and more)[/*]
[*]Has humor (like the televangelist) while overall serious[/*]
[*]Pretty much says "f*** you!" to the Bond formula[/*]
[*]Pam Bouvier is sexy, intelligent, likeable and hard-edge. [/*]
[*]Thrilling truck chase sequence near the end [/*]
[*]A nice villain death on Sanchez and strong finale [/*]
[/list]

Cons:

[list=*]
[*]Sanchez's gasoline warehouse had no fire safety?!?![/*]
[*]First half leans a wee bit much on the Miami Vice side[/*]
[*]The acting of Lupe (Sanchez's girlfriend) is a bit flat[/*]
[*]While Felix lives, Della is a "woman in a refrigerator"[/*]
[/list]

All in all, one of my favorite movies in the series. The first half takes a little while to settle in but once Pam Bouvier and Sanchez start to develop, it all takes off from there. Despite being an original story, the character of James Bond in this movie is quite similar to the books. But at the end of the day, the public decided that Dalton wasn't the face they wanted, unfortunately.

AlphaOmegaSin

Higgy will love this

Pros -

A brilliant Score
Some brilliant Set Pieces
A dark, gritty, vengeful Bond
It has some of the best Lines in the Franchise
Sanchez is still an intimidating Villain

Cons -

Leiters jolly Attitude at the End,

Absolutely_Cart

AlphaOmegaSin wrote:

Higgy will love this

Saved this one just for him. In all fairness, this was the next one I was planning on doing anyway.

DevilMayCare007

Pros
- Sanchez
- Climax
- Stunts
- Q
- Pam Bouvier

Cons
- Timothy Dalton ( he's 10x better in TLD )
- Doesn't feel like a bond movie
- Too dark
- Gadgets

TLD is way better IMO bc it feels like a Bond movie and it has great locations as for LTK is feels just another 80s flick, don't care for the location. And Tim is just angry throughout the movie, and yes I know its a revenge film.

Absolutely_Cart

That's ultimately the dillemma the Bond series faces. Either it's "too formulaic" or it's "not Bond".

I can agree, though, that if this weren't a James Bond movie (with all elements in tact), it probably wouldn't be remembered as a significant movie of it's decade.

Dutchfinger

I think the fact that Licence to Kill steered away from being "too formulatic" and went all the way with it is one of the reasons it's my favorite Bond movie! Something the Brosnan movies could have really learned from, which were made in times where the writers were to afraid to get to far away from the Bond formula.
Imagine how much better Tomorrow Never Dies could have been if Paris Carver actually was a Bond girl from a past Bond movie, instead of choosing the highly populair Teri Hatcher in favor of grossing more money. Or if Renard's "can't feel no pain" thing and Bond's shoulder injury in TWINE were fully explored and used, instead of just being mentioned a few times. Or if Bond's torture in DAD truly scared him, left a huge wound and made him very visibly vulnerable, instead of turning him to the super hero again as soon as he shaved in Hong Kong. Licence to Kill was a movie that had the balls to go all out with great ideas, the Brosnan movies had great ideas but didn't do anything with them.
And yet, LTK has dozens of really Bondian moments as well, like: Bond watersking behind the waterplane with the Bond theme, the note left on Felix Leiter straight from the novel, the opening credits, I even find the over the top Truck wheelie in the end to be quite Bondian.

MilleniumForce

Pros:

- Dalton at his best
- Love the revenge storyline as a change from missions in a Bond film
- David Hedison returns as Felix Leiter
- Robert Davi is a great villain
- Great Pre Title Sequence
- Great title song
- The great death scene at Krest's "You earnt it, old buddy"
- Pam is a very underated Bond girl, who is actually good at being a female agent
- Dario is a great henchman
- Love how Q gets more screen time in this one
- Krest's death scene is great
- The conveyer belt scen with Bond is tense and Bond is actually in serious peril here
- Dario has a great death scene
- Truck chase is my favourite chase scene in a Bind film
- Sanchez has a great death scene

Cons:
- Wooden acting from Talisa Soto

Great Bond film, something different from all the other Bond films.
Love LTK, 9/10

Absolutely_Cart

I love Pam. I think she's up there with Vesper.

Thunderpussy

I didn't think Pam died ! )

Dutchfinger

Thunderpussy wrote:

I didn't think Pam died ! )

) Clever one

AlphaOmegaSin

I would say that the Film has received a bit more Appreciation over the Years, even if some People cant find any Positives in it -{

chrisisall

Cons: the curious X-ray shot the camera took, that Hedison wasn't aware of Della's death when he said his lines in hospital.
Pros: The rest of the bloody film!

broadshoulder

Cons: Wayne Newton
Pros: Everything else

Higgins

Pros:
Beautiful locations in Florida!
Carey Lowell is super-hot and her visual transformation is stunning
The PTS is quite stunning and exciting
The idea of Bond going rogue is quite good
The first 30 minutes until Leiter gets bitten in pieces is phantastic!
Talisa Soto is eye-candy!
I quite liked Kamen's Music on th first viewing but it gets annoyingly repeating after times.
Extended role for Q is a lovely gesture towards Llewelyn

Cons:
Many of the sets are visibly cheap!
The HK agents subplot is totally unnecessary
The Mexico pyramid plot is boring!
Wave Crest scenes too lenghty

And you know the big minus for me all

All in all, I prefer LTK over TLD anyday but True Lies used the Florida Locations so much better!

AlphaOmegaSin

I've always put Felix's jolly Attitude at the End down to the Painkillers )

Spoff

Pros:

Dalton is excellent
A welcome change from the usual Bond formula
Great locations
Good story and use of bits from the novels
Excellent villain(s)
Cary Lowell is very good
Good stunts
Q gets a longer outing

Cons:

Ninjas in the sniper scene...Why? I hate that bit, it is so out of step with the rest of the film.

AlphaOmegaSin

LTK started off Life as a rather different Film originally.

Blackleiter

MilleniumForce wrote:

Pros:

- Dalton at his best
- Love the revenge storyline as a change from missions in a Bond film
- David Hedison returns as Felix Leiter
- Robert Davi is a great villain
- Great Pre Title Sequence
- Great title song
- The great death scene at Krest's "You earnt it, old buddy"
- Pam is a very underated Bond girl, who is actually good at being a female agent
- Dario is a great henchman
- Love how Q gets more screen time in this one
- Krest's death scene is great
- The conveyer belt scen with Bond is tense and Bond is actually in serious peril here
- Dario has a great death scene
- Truck chase is my favourite chase scene in a Bind film
- Sanchez has a great death scene

Cons:
- Wooden acting from Talisa Soto

Great Bond film, something different from all the other Bond films.
Love LTK, 9/10

I agree with every one of your points! {[]

Blackleiter

Higgins wrote:

Pros:
Beautiful locations in Florida!
Carey Lowell is super-hot and her visual transformation is stunning
The PTS is quite stunning and exciting
The idea of Bond going rogue is quite good
The first 30 minutes until Leiter gets bitten in pieces is phantastic!
Talisa Soto is eye-candy!
I quite liked Kamen's Music on th first viewing but it gets annoyingly repeating after times.
Extended role for Q is a lovely gesture towards Llewelyn

Cons:
Many of the sets are visibly cheap!
The HK agents subplot is totally unnecessary
The Mexico pyramid plot is boring!
Wave Crest scenes too lenghty

And you know the big minus for me all

All in all, I prefer LTK over TLD anyday but True Lies used the Florida Locations so much better!

Holy cow! So many pros for a Dalton Bond? From you????

AlphaOmegaSin

Me too {[]

Higgins

Blackleiter wrote:

Holy cow! So many pros for a Dalton Bond? From you????

...and none of them has to do with Dalton himself

Barbel

A well-balanced view, Higgins, kudos.

AlphaOmegaSin

1+

Higgins

Barbel wrote:

A well-balanced view, Higgins, kudos.

.... as always

Higgins

another positive aspect is Dalton's chemistry with Lowell.
Where his entire interaction with Kara is simply creepy, it's good to see him having a girl which is next to equal.

PPK 7.65mm

I have always liked the Galco Falcon Shoulder Holster that James Bond (Timothy Dalton) wears for his Walther PPK in Licence To Kill. It looks amazing! It took me several years to find a similar gun holster like it, but I found one in the Ken Nulls SMZ! Pictures contained below.

Absolutely_Cart

Higgins wrote:

another positive aspect is Dalton's chemistry with Lowell.
Where his entire interaction with Kara is simply creepy, it's good to see him having a girl which is next to equal.

wow, higgins said one positive thing about dalton. i can die happily.

i agree that his relationship with kara was kinda paternal/condescending, but it was still more fulfilling than many of the moore era pursuits.

Higgins

The difference is that Moore's relationships with far younger women was always "C'mon nobody believes that I'd really score this young chick" while Dalton with his pseudo-overall-serious approach makes it serious and really creepy...

When seriously creepy is "more fulfilling" for yourself - I am not surprised

Higgins

Barbel wrote:

A well-balanced view, Higgins, kudos.

You know, Barbel,

it may look like my posts are just right out of my head, but these are actually result of week-long reflexions, yoga-lessons, cross-checks long-life experience and extraordinary intelligence!

It's a pretty complex process until AJB gets the honor to be blessed with my brilliance

77007

Pros: It's not TLD.

Cons: Dalton.

Blackleiter

Higgins wrote:

Blackleiter wrote:

Holy cow! So many pros for a Dalton Bond? From you????

...and none of them has to do with Dalton himself

Believe me, I noticed! )